Swizz Beatz Remembers Getting Rich Off Ruff Ryders Royalties

Source: Courtesy BET / BET Networks

A new episode of BET’s “Ruff Ryders Chronicles” airs tonight! The five-part series tells the definitive story of Ruff Ryders Entertainment, the iconic hip hop label founded by the Dean brothers Joaquin (Waah), Darin (Dee) and sister, Chivon Dean, and features interviews of Swizz Beatz, Eve, DMX, The LOX and more. Tonight BET will air Episodes 2 and 3, and we’ve got some sneak peek clips for your viewing pleasure — our favorite features Swizzy talking about buying his first Benz with his debit card! As the Ruff Ryders successes got bigger and bigger, Swizz Beatz didn’t even realize at first that his tax bracket changed — the hip hop producer had been keeping his ASCAP publishing checks in a shoebox because he thought they were like Publisher’s Clearinghouse checks! By the time he figured out the truth he’d collected over $700,000.

Check out the clip below

Wild right? Can you imagine having almost a million dollars in your house in a SHOEBOX and not even knowing it? If you found out you had $700K overnight what would you spend it on? We love hearing these old stories — especially from the more behind the scenes folks like Wah and Dean and Chivon Dean. Ruff Ryders Entertainment really brought a lot to the culture.

Hit the flip for some special clips of DMX and don’t forget to tune in at 10pm for new episodes of “Ruff Ryders Chronicles”.